walking ?

[ncarter]

Hi, We have a 16 month old in a few days. He not walking on his own. He does walk hanging onto the sofa. I try to get him to hold my hands but then he just starts jumping. We have a toy he can push but he keeps leaning over to play with the toys. But his dad uses a walker around our place. So the other day i had my son walk with it. He gets on his toes a lot and when he walkes he gets his legs crossed so they get in the way. We are doing therapy and she wants to put leg braces on him. Do you think it will help ?His dad not sure cause they never helped him. Also my friend says before he can walk he needs to stand on his own 1st.Is this true ? He does stand but hanging onto stuff. thanks

[big-mouth-burgher]

My oldest son was a late walker, just past 18 months. He would walk holding onto the sofa, our hands, chairs, toy, etc for quite a few months before he got up the courage to just let go and do it himself. And yes, they should be able to stand on their own before they walk.

I'm not sure if the leg braces will help or not, but they couldn't hurt. Does he have a condition that he is getting therapy for?

My ped told me that the average age for walking is 12 -18 months, so you're still within what is considered normal.

[hardworkinmama]

My neighbor has an almost 19 month old boy who just started walking on his own 2 days ago. He would stand on his own, albeit unsteady, and wanted to let go of whatever he was holding onto but was too scared. I also think a lot of the reason he wouldn't walk was because she carried him everywhere. She never really encouraged him to walk because it was easier for her to just pick him up when he would start whining.
Since he tries to jump when you hold his hands have you tried giving him something else to hold? For instance, you could take a teddy bear and have him hold one hand while you hold the other. That's what my mom did with my brother except she used a saltine cracker.
Make sure you make a big deal out of it when he lets go of something so that he will want to try it again. I hope this helps and good luck. He will walk when you aren't ready for it!

[NoAdditives]

Babies don't necessarily have to be able to stand on their own before they can walk on their own. My daughter started taking a few steps on her own a few weeks ago but started standing about a week after that.

If his therapist thinks he needs leg braces it's worth a try. She's suggesting them for a reason. If they don't end up working it probably won't hurt anything.

[ncarter]

Hi, Thanks for all the advice. He is getting therapy cause he cant sit normal. He cant sit with his legs infront of him. He finally sits now on his own but 1 leg in front and the other leg behind him. and he still has to have a hand on the floor so he dont fall over. They think his hip is weak. And we dont know yet if he has what daddy has. That his legs dont work and his mom and brother have it also. So thats why he is in therapy. They just watching to see if he has it or not. Cause he walks on his toes and also stands on them.

[NoAdditives]

If he only walks or stands on his toes it could be that his tendons (and possibly muscles too) are overly tight. I used to live on a farm and have had lots of experience with animals being born with that problem. Some simple stretching exercises should loosen things up. You might try taking him to a chiropractor in addition to the therapist. Physical therapy is great but sometimes chiropractors have certain tricks and they can really help in surprising ways.